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I am considering a business in commercial beekeeping and would appreciate some advice on this. I live in southern Ontario, horticultural zone 5. Could someone running a single person operation give me an idea of how viable commercial beekeeping is on this scale, and what is the best way to make it viable on this scale. How many hives can one reasonably manage? What is the production cost per pound with this approach? Any input would be a great help. Thanks.

Which Part of Ontario are you at? I am doing the same thing here, Many beekeeper at our area are running a single person operation, it looks like 200 hive is the magic number here, but will 200 hive doesn't come overnight so I decided to keep expand year after year and I will know the right number for me, next year I will be running about 60 hive, I am expecting to keep losing money as far as I am 1:2+ split my hives every years mainly since they have to draw a lot of foundation every year.
I see it as a large initial investment in the begging with postponed return, and that what will make it very different to know the "production cost per poundÂ” for the first few year, even after that every year will be different.

Another thing will help, if you find another beekeeper who you can share extraction with, I am doing that with a friend of mine who also expanding rapidly, so if you find someone in your area who also starting an operation you will find a lot of ideas to save both of you a lot.

That canadian website is kind of depressing. It makes it look like you can't really make any money at it. The estimates there are a lot lower than what I had heard so far as far as expected yield per hive.

Central IL... where there are more hogs than people and more soybeans than hogs and people put together.

I think you have to add in pollination to be successful on a small to moderate size (400 colonies).

When (and not if) we open the China honey floodgate the price will drop to $0.60 to $0.70 per pound. In my opintion you should plan on pollination, bulk sales, and packaging and marketing your own bee products on a local level (honey, pollen, tinctures, cosmetics).

If I read it correctly, it projects a 40% overwintering mortality rate. It also assumes that all hives lost to overwintering are replaced by purchase -- not splits. That puts a serious dent in their projected bottom line.

a 40% mortality rate? I'm by no means an expert, probably closer to a novice, and I've never lost a hive over the winter. One swarm caught late in the season lost a queen and just didn't have time, but overwintering an established hive at a 40% loss???

Central IL... where there are more hogs than people and more soybeans than hogs and people put together.

I'm with you east...40%? I've had 0% mortality with the hives I brought into winter. I did buy out another operation a couple of weeks ago that went into winter with 42 hives and by the time I bought him out 24 had died and 3 more probably will, but that was due to starvation. The beekeeper had health problems that kept him from taking care of his bees and he didn't ask for help or make the decision to sell soon enough.

Wannabee and stingray,
You both have expressed this kind of interest. I have had wonderful experience working with a large beekeeper in my area. He lost 600 hives last year. He buys new queens every year. He has labor problems. He has a bad back. He uses run-down equipment. So there is a lot of hard work to accomplish success. But I have learned a lot from working with him. GO WORK WITH SOMEONE ELSE LARGER THAN YOU!

People make a living at this. I have hear rumor that a NC beekeeper has a new F550 and swinger loader within the past few years. But I think he had a PHD scientist job to fall back on or support growth. David Hackenburg of Milton PA started in high school with just a few hives (his wife told me) and grew to pollinate up and down the east coast and has the most marvelous Honey House (18 wheelers fit in it, biggest Cowan equipment automated).

Location matters. NC average per hive is 42 pounds. What is your states average?\

What Canadian site did you read? Try http://www.honeybeeworld.com/ and read the diary, especially a few years back when he had thousands of hives. Personally, it just made me lustful for more bees. But after 4 years and selling lots of product, my tax man says I lost $800 last year, nto the $700 profit I thought. And this without paying myself.

I count on 15-20% losses. 20% loss would represent a bad winter. 40% losses in California now are not representative of all the losses in the states, or elsewhere. Hope that figure on losses gets stomped out quick

thanks for all the responses bee people. forestbee asked where in southern ontario i am, i'm in burlington right now. i'm at best a year from considering a commercial startup and plan to take nursebee's advice on working with someone. thanks